To be honest, Steven could understand the predicament of the young girl standing before him, but that didn't stop him from finding it somewhat amusing.
Just imagine—after finally finding her comrades, one had gone completely insane, and the other had turned into an idiot. Instead of receiving any comfort from the reunion, she now had to clean up their messes every day, piling up debts as a result. Anyone in her shoes would probably feel like they were on the verge of breaking down, right?
Of course, it was also possible that she was simply too honest for her own good. It doesn't matter whose idea it is, bullying such an overly sincere girl was a bit too mean-spirited.
"Don't look at me like that. I'll cover the compensation here, alright? After all, you are a companion of my daughter. It must have been tough for you to take care of them all this time."
Steven glanced down at Gladiia, who had lifted her head upon hearing her name.
Her innocent expression made it seem as if she had absolutely nothing to do with the situation—as if she had no sense of responsibility for the trouble she had caused.
"She's the Second Company Captain. She's not your daughter."
The straightforward girl, Skadi, shook her head and boldly corrected Steven's words.
Doing this might very well make Steven take back what he had just said.
"He's Dad!"
Before Steven could respond, the girl in his arms—Gladiia—immediately reacted to the statement, shooting a glare at Skadi before loudly refuting her.
"But…"
Skadi, as the one being refuted by the person in question, instantly faltered.
She mumbled in grievance, looking even more amusingly pitiful.
"Alright, alright, why are you even arguing with her? You know what state she's in right now. Just treat it as temporary, okay?"
Trying to hold back his laughter, Steven gestured for the unusually honest and naive girl to come a little closer.
"But even if it's temporary, it still doesn't feel right. The Second Company Captain is usually such a cool and composed person—how did she end up like this?"
With a sigh, Skadi still looked confused. But seeing Steven's motion, she walked over anyway, albeit with some curiosity.
She really didn't understand how Gladiia had ended up in this state—just like she didn't understand how Specter had been tormented into becoming the way she was now.
What exactly had happened during the time she was away from the Abyssal Hunters?
And this young man in front of her—who seemed to be about the same age as the Second Company Captain—how had he managed to earn Gladiia's trust? She couldn't figure it out either.
"Some things just can't be explained, but I really do appreciate your efforts. Do you need any help with anything? Maybe I can do something for you."
Without hesitation, Steven pulled out a thick stack of Lungmen dollars from his pocket (Inventory) and placed it in front of Skadi.
He had said he would take responsibility, and he wasn't one to go back on his word.
Besides, he hadn't really had many opportunities to spend money during this trip to Ursus.
The money he had extorted from Warfarin and Kal'tsit earlier now had a good use.
"Honestly, just having money is already a huge help. Besides, the Second Company Captain is my comrade—it's only natural for me to do this."
After seeing the thick stack of money, Skadi's mood visibly improved.
No matter what, at least she wouldn't have to shoulder the entire compensation cost by herself.
Without hesitation, she accepted the money, then finally revealed the faintest hint of a smile to Steven.
"As for what I need help with... I want my comrades' minds to be healed. But you can't do that, can you?"
Lowering her head, she lifted the unconscious Specter from the ground, her expression somewhat downcast, as if she didn't really expect Steven to be capable of such a thing.
Steven was momentarily stunned by her request before awkwardly nodding.
Just as Skadi had said, this was indeed beyond his capabilities.
After all, thoughts and memories weren't something that mods could influence.
He could heal the physical wounds of Gladiia and Specter, but their minds and memories—he truly didn't have any reliable method to restore those.
However, the fact that this girl only wished for such a thing made Steven's impression of her rise even further.
She might be a bit naive, but wasn't that just a sign of her purity? He saw nothing wrong with a girl as simple as her.
Of course, calling her closer wasn't just for the sake of this conversation.
More importantly, today was the first time Steven had noticed something peculiar about the name floating above her head and the status bar behind it—something seemed to be hidden there.
Ever since he discovered the "Black Snake" suffix attached to Talulah's name, he had developed a habit of closely inspecting people's statuses whenever he had the chance. And this time, he had uncovered something quite interesting.
For example, Kal'tsit had a row of question marks after her name, and Warfarin had the title "Bloodlord" attached to hers.
But compared to the girl standing before him, their statuses seemed relatively ordinary.
After all, this was the first time Steven had ever seen someone with a dragon emblem around their name. If he didn't know better, he might have thought she was some kind of legendary Hearthstone card.
But in a way, didn't that just prove how significant this title was?
So far, the only other name Steven had seen with a hidden dragon-marked title was Amiya's—[The Prophesied Lord of Fiends].
And now, floating above Skadi's name, he saw:
[Seaborn Firstborn: Ishar'mla of the Corrupting Heart]
Steven understood the logic behind this.
He could accept that a high-level Seaborn might have such a title.
But Firstborn...?
He couldn't help but find it amusing rather than intimidating. If someone ever dared to call him "Firstborn," he'd probably pick a fight with them on the spot.
But why did Skadi, an ordinary Ægir Abyssal Hunter—someone who was supposed to be an enemy of the Seaborn—have such a strange status attached to her?
Was this another case like Talulah's, where something strange had possessed her?
Steven scratched his head.
He felt a little awkward directly asking the girl about her condition—it was, after all, her personal business.
Unlike Gladiia, she wasn't his adopted daughter.
He had asked Skadi if she needed any help partly to see if she had noticed anything unusual about herself. But judging by her reaction, this state didn't seem to be negatively affecting her in any way.
"Sorry," Steven finally said. "This kind of thing depends on whether they want to remember. I'm not strong enough to override someone's personal will—at least, not yet."
Seeing that Skadi didn't seem particularly troubled by this matter, Steven decided not to press further.
He simply shrugged, indicating that he was indeed powerless in this situation.
"Then I don't really have anything I want… uh, wait, actually, now that I think about it, there is one thing."
Pressing a slender finger against her lower lip, the already somewhat airheaded girl looked even more naive and adorable as she adopted a thoughtful expression.
"Neither Shark nor I have been able to get used to life on Rhodes Island… especially since there aren't even any smart flushing toilets here. But I suppose there's no point in telling a land-dweller like you about it—you wouldn't understand anyway."
Muttering to herself, Skadi voiced a problem that had troubled her for quite some time before shaking her head regretfully.
After all, if they had never seen such a thing before, no matter how much she explained, these people wouldn't be able to build one.
It wasn't something that could be understood with just a few words—it was a product of Ægir's years of advanced technology and wisdom, after all.
What she didn't expect, however, was for Steven to nearly fall over in shock upon hearing the term.
He was clearly caught completely off guard.
"Wait… what did you just say you wanted?"
To make sure he hadn't misheard, Steven asked again, staring at the girl in disbelief.
"A smart flushing toilet, of course. Like I said, you wouldn't understand even if I explained."
Tilting her head slightly, Skadi looked genuinely confused as to why Steven needed to double-check something so simple.
"..."
For a moment, Steven was at a complete loss for words.
He honestly didn't know how to respond to her request.
It wasn't that he found it unacceptable—just that it was so… unexpected.
It even had a bit of an absurd, almost comedic quality to it.
A beautiful warrior girl like Skadi wasn't supposed to need to use the bathroom, right? So why was she so hung up on something so trivial?!
But thinking it over, Steven realized something—he had been in this world for quite a while now, and he really hadn't seen any modern plumbing or smart toilets anywhere.
Whether it was Rhodes Island or Ursus, the standard of living still had a long way to go.
"You mean… that's what you want?" Steven asked, holding back his laughter. "Well, I actually have one, and I can install it too. Are you sure that's really what you need?"
Steven couldn't help but smile.
The fact that an Abyssal Hunter—someone with overwhelming combat power—had such a mundane request was almost too amusing.
But aside from that, he was growing increasingly curious about Ægir, the homeland of Skadi and Gladiia.
If they had the technology to develop something as trivial as smart toilets, then it must be a pretty advanced place, right?
"Huh? But— you're a land-dweller. Do you really understand what it is? It's a smart toilet, you know. Smart!"
Skadi repeated herself twice, looking at Steven with a rare serious expression.
This was not a joking matter to her.
"Yes, yes, I get it. Just tell me where you want it installed," Steven chuckled. "At the very least, I have no reason to lie about something like this, do I?"
He laughed lightly.
Thanks to his furniture mod, not only could he install a smart toilet, but he could also set up an entire modern bathroom if needed.
<+>
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